Tufts vs. Pomona

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
1

<p>I'm currently trying to decide between Pomona and Tufts which is such a hard choice! I really love Pomona but my main concern is location since it's so far from my family and most of my friends are going to be on the East Coast. Also, I like how Tufts is so close to the city while Pomona seems to be more isolated.</p>

<p>I think I'll prefer living in a smaller college but will a larger university give me more opportunities in terms of greater variety of classes and more research/internship opportunities?</p>

<p>Are they similar in terms of quality of education?</p>

<p>How do the med school admission rates compare coming from these schools?</p>

2

<p>In my opinion, Pomona > Tufts for quality of education. Also, Pomona is known for having excellent grad school placement - I’m not sure about med school in particular, though.</p>

3

<p>I think that Tufts is superior to Pomona (given that both have excellent academics) because Tufts, as a university, has greater resources for research, the library is more comprehensive, and one has the intellectual/research/social wealth of Boston, into which 22 major colleges and universities feed. Pomona cannot provide a research/internship position, for example, at New England Medical Center, the Mass General Hospital, etc.</p>

<p>Tufts has an exalted medical school acceptance rate–well above the national mean–and tends to favor their own (accomplished) undergrads for entry to Tufts medical school, ranked in the top 15 medical schools, nationally.</p>

<p>I think that Tufts selects for a kind of iconoclastic student with a global outlook–very often, one . That is not my impression of the 4 students I know, well, who attend(ed) Pomona. They were definitely not as risk-taking, intellectually, or as extroverted, socially, as the Jumbos I know. While this sounds anecdotal, I do hear, redundantly, that Pomona may be a “nerdier” (sorry about that word) school than Tufts.<br>
Tufts also has a keener (more liberal and activistic) political sensibility, than Pomona, if that is important/repellant to you.</p>

<p>I also HATE the dirty air that cloaks the Claremont consortium of colleges–my personal pet peeve.</p>

4

<p>Pomona has wonderful access to research/internships for it’s students. While not Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco both have major research hospitals that serve students in the summers for internships as well as during the year. (UCLA, USC, UCSF and others), and the college helps the students get these positions.
Pomona students do very, very well with med school admissions and receive a lot of support during their four years to help them be successful.</p>

<p>[Pomona</a> College Health Sciences Program](<a href=“http://www.medsci.pomona.edu/]Pomona”>http://www.medsci.pomona.edu/) </p>

<p>One way to compare classes is to look at the options in both college catalogs. Because of the Claremont Consortium, you’ll have a lot of variety than is obvious at first because students often take courses at the other colleges–they’re right there!<br>
And I would not agree that the students are nerdier, less “iconoclastic” or less liberal at Pomona, either, but that’s also anecdotal, from the student’s I’ve met. My own kid, now at Pomona, is a little bit nerdy, if by nerdy you mean “good student,” but he was also Prom King in high school–so not too nerdy. :wink: He spent 6 months in South Africa last year, and most of his classmates had similar semester abroad experiences, which definitely do widen one’s view. What you get at Pomona is a lot of diversity and some very interesting individuals. I think you would say the same for Tufts. In fact, I would expect that there are more similarities in the student bodies than differences- you are a prime example. You were accepted at both. </p>

<p>Also, michelle, don’t think of Pomona as isolated. It really isn’t. Los Angeles is very close. Boston is a cooler city than LA, I’ll grant you that. But you won’t feel cut off - you’re much more part of LA than not when you’re in Claremont.
And the air- my gosh, the weather is wonderful. You should have seen it this weekend! Most of the winter is clear and you can see snow on the nearby mountains. Granted, the summers, and through September, can be smoggy, but you
wouldn’t be there during the worst times. You get a smoggy September, hot October and then a gorgeous November through spring. In Boston you get a muggy September and a then a freezing cold winter that lasts from November through March!</p>

<p>It sounds like leaving the area (east coast) might be hard for you, and Tufts would certainly be close to friends and family. And Boston is a cool city , and you’d get an excellent education. Something about Pomona must appeal to you, though, or you wouldn’t be having this problem. Pomona is an amazing place with a very special and personal feeling, and also an outstanding education. Good luck with your decision.</p>

5

<p>Pomona, and the Claremont Colleges in general, are amazing. Go there if you can… there’s always grad school @ Tufts!</p>

6

<p>If you go to Pomona and are planning your exodus into L.A.–to visit friends at UCLA, USC, for example, or to do an internship–know that you are talking about a 2-hour commute. The traffic is perennial and merciless.</p>